Lighthouse Nautical Bath Decor

Bathroom Decorating ideas with a lighthouse theme. They've represented safety to generations of mariners. Bring these beacons of hope into your home

Lighthouses have fascinated sailors and land lubbers alike for centuries. They represent guidance, showing the way to safe harbor, and strength when they stand stalwartly against a stormy sky and sea.

In interior decorating, adding a classic nautical touch to your bath with a lighthouse theme isn't at all hard to do. If it's time to spruce up that tired bathroom decor, you might consider an easy transformation with just a few pieces that feature lighthouses.

These pieces are easy to find, and just a few in a small room like a bath can go a long way. This means you don't have to spend a fortune to completely transform a whole room!

If you'd like to learn a little bit about a couple of notable lighthouses along the way, this page will also introduce you to the first lighthouse ever, and also the first one built in the United States.

Image (by CruiseReady) Lighthouse at the entrance to the ship harbor in Nassau,. The Bahamas

Nautical Bath Decor

Is Popular Everywhere

Many people have chosen to do at least one of the baths in their home in a nautical theme. Whether it's the master bath, a small guest bath, or the one the kids use, you can easily find appropriate decorator accessories that are suitable.

Just about anything associated with the sea can be considered a nautical theme ... from the ocean waves themselves, to the ships that sail on them, the creatures that swim under the surface, to the shells that wash up on the shore. And, of course the lighthouses that, for centuries, helped the sailor find safe harbor.

But, what if a hodge podge of anchors, sailboats, ship wheels, sea shells, and sea creatures doesn't appeal to you?

The answer is to zoom in a little. Narrow your theme to one or two nautical symbols or elements. This page presents some ideas for putting your focus on lighthouses. But, you could certainly take the same approach with sea life, sailboats, or something else.

Choose Your Lighthouse Shower Curtain First

And The Rest Will Fall Into Place

Here are some choices in lighthouse themed shower curtains. If you start with the shower curtain as your base, the job of choosing a few other items will be made easy... you'll want them to go well with the focal point created by the shower curtain.

It's probably the largest changeable piece in your bath, so choose carefully! However, it IS, as I said, changeable. And it's an easy change to do. So, if you are unhappy with your initial choice, all is not lost. (Except maybe the price, if the item isn't returnable)

What if your shower has door, rather than a shower curtain? See the section titled 'Creating a Focal Point' for ideas.

The World's First Lighthouse

The Pharos

The Lighthouse of Alexandria, also known as The Pharos, is thought to be the world’s first lighthouse. It was built on the island of Pharos, which was about a mile off the coast of the city of Alexandria on the northern coast of Egypt. Serving mariners for well over 1,000 years, this was one well-built structure!

Original construction of the lighthouse was done between 28 0and 247 BC. It was such a marvel that, for hundreds of years, the lighthouse was one of the tallest structures ever built on earth, and as such, tall became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Estimates are that it was between 390 and 450 feet

This ancient marvel guided sailors safely into harbor for well over a millennium!

Sadly, an earthquake struck the site in 956, damaging the lighthouse, but it still operated for over 350 more years, surviving another earthquake during that time. A third quake in 1323 finished off its usefulness as a lighthouse, after some 1700 years.

Creating a Focal Point

Choose a Larger Space and Draw Attention to It

If your bath has no shower curtain, you can create a focal point of your choice. You might do this with wall art, using a shelving unit, or even by placing an attractive, over sized bath rug on the floor.

Wall decals do a nice job of filling a wall space and drawing the eye. A half bath or guest bath might be a good place to use one.

Simply utilize the large space you choosen by placing an eye-catching piece, or grouping, there, and allow that to dominate the room, and dictate your further choices.

More Focal Point Ideas

Lighthouse Bathroom Accessories

And Smaller Decorative Items

Now that you've chosen your focal item, or items, your direction for accessories and smaller items will be clearer.

What is the 'style' of your big items? Photographic or realistic? Playful or whimsical? Whatever style you began with, continue with a similar tone for other items.

You don't need to exactly match the colors, though. Just stay within the same color family, or at least choose colors that won't fight with one another.

Decorative ceramic tiles are particularly suitable for bathroom use. They won't be damaged, even if someone in your home takes long, steamy showers. In some bathrooms, there's a perfect space for them above the towel rack.

Decorator Ceramic Tiles

Decorative Tiles can be a either a focal point or a little accent, and they work equally well framed and unframed.

Hang a grouping of them on a wall for a focal point, or use a single tile for a pop of color.

A good source is Zazzle, where there's plenty of variety. A recent search for 'lighthouse tiles' turned up over 1,200 results!

The Boston Light

Boasts a First and a Last

Of the more than 15,000 lighthouses world-wide perhaps fewer than 200 are still manned.

There are around 700 lighthouses in the United States. Only ONE is still manned.

The Boston Light, shown here in a photo by James L Woodward, sits on Little Brewster Island in Boston Harbor. The present tower been there since 1783, when it replaced the one built on the the same site in 1716.

Why did the original one survive for such a short time, when its replacement has lasted for over 230 years? Because the first one was destroyed in 1776, during the Revolutionary War.

This beloved beacon holds two different distinctions - a first and a last.

The original one was the FIRST lighthouse ever built on U.S. soil, and its predecessor is the LAST manned lighthouse in the entire country. However, there's no professional keeper there. It's staffed by volunteers today.

Lighthouse Nightlights

For Your Nautical Bath

A Lighthouse night light is an ultra easy nautical touch to add to your bath... just plug it in! A night light is a good idea for any bath that might be used by guests, who may not have the 'lay of the land' in the middle of the night. They are also helpful in a bath used by children and older family members, some of whom can occasionally become a little disoriented at night without a little bit of light to help them get their bearings.

Do you like the idea of a lighthouse themed bath decor?

CruiseReady, What countries are on the list of locations still with manned lighthouses? I voted for the sea creatures, since I just had read your article on Vaquitas, even though it's actually a tie between them and lighthouses.